Various configurations are known for restraining the movement of ruptured pipes. One known restraint has sought to restrain the movement of a ruptured pipe by utilizing a honeycomb panel which crushes on impact to absorb the energy of the pipe. Although this known construction provides satisfactory pipe restraint for preventing damage to equipment, it does not provide sufficient flexibility for totally omnidirectional application, is quite difficult to install, and is quite expensive to manufacture.
Another known pipe restraint has been used as an omni-directional restraint. This restraint includes a body or saddle member which is positioned below the high energy pipe and includes an arch affixed to the saddle and which extends around the pipe. The saddle is seated on a honeycomb panel and is affixed to the concrete or structural steel by specially formed studs. The studs deform plastically to absorb energy during upward and lateral impacts by the high energy pipe and the honeycomb panel deforms plastically to absorb energy during downward and lateral impacts by the high energy pipe.
However, with this known omni-directional restraint any upward force must be absorbed almost entirely by the specially formed studs and the downward force almost entirely by the specially formed honeycomb panel which are connected by a complex steel structure thus increasing the cost thereof.
Other known pipe restraint configurations generally include one or more of the energy absorbing components of the aforementioned known restraints. A recent pipe restraint configuration employs a plurality of discrete U-shaped rods threaded into clevi adjacent the high energy pipe with bearing bands affixed to the rods for positioning between the rods and the high energy pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,292 (Madden, Jr.) discloses another form of an energy absorbing device, specifically for use in automobile bumpers, aircraft landing gear, auto steering columns, and elevator safety decelerators, and which includes hollow spheres for absorbing energy from a plunger as the spheres undergo plastic deformation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved impact energy absorbing pipe restraints, which restraints are readily usable to restrain the movement of a ruptured pipe in any direction.
It is another object of the present invention to provide improved impact energy absorbing pipe restraints at greatly reduced cost.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide improved impact energy absorbing restraints which minimize the loads transmitted to the restraint attachment structures.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide improved impact energy absorbing laminated strap pipe restraints in which bending effects, which contribute very little to energy absorption and subtract from allowable strain, are minimized.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide improved impact energy absorbing pipe restraints which are readily adaptable to high energy pipes having different energy levels.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide improved impact energy absorbing pipe restraints which will act to reduce the lateral oscillation of a ruptured pipe.
Other objects, aspects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings.